Body treating band or article



May 28, 1935. o. MILLS BODY TREATING BAND OR ARTICLE Filed June 6, 1931 Patented May 28, 1935 e 2 2,002,673 BODY TREATING BAND on ARTICLE,"

Oscar'L. Mills, Los Angele s, Calif. Application .lune 6,1931, Serial No. 542,515.

5 Claims. (01. 128-163) invention relat'es to aniarticle. of manufacture comprising a flexible band, formedhof a plurality of perforated unglazed ceramic disks. and an 7 interconnecting. wire truss work,- which- 5; is adaptedzfor use "inthe' cosmetic and. therapeutic arts. M The article, as hereinabove set forth,..is"used in, the cosmetic and therapeutic, artscwhenever it is. desired toutilize the absorptive? properties imof unglazed ceramic, material for absorbing a. liquid such as cooled water or anastringent, for: theapplication thereof ,to-the desired part of,

the anatomy. More. particularly, this article with its absorbed liquid, can be used to relieve '15 (headaches, the absorbed liquid being, slowly evaporated and thus acting to cool ortreat the:

Inactual practice, the article or belt is first saturated with ice water, or an astringent, ora ,.mixture of the two, and thenapplied to the desired part of the anatomy in anyLdesirable manner. I a r n The article as hereinabove describediis, in general, old as it has been made .by uniting the 25:: perforated unglazed ceramic disks intoitheform of a flexible sheet or fabric by means of threads,

fibrous strings or the like, which were sewed or threaded through the perforations, and along the edges of the disks. Shfabricwere entirely withstood by the ceramic disks, and as a result, many of them were ripped away from their attaching mediumwhen in-use rendering the article unfit for further use.

Moreover, these threads, when wetted, shrunk or tightened upon drying and consequently ex- 1 erted a greatstrain on the disks whichtended to" break them. 'In' addition, the continual wet ting of the threads caused them to rot and dis:

; integrate which finally resulted in adismembering of the fabric rendering it unfitfor use.

Ihave found that the objections inherent in these prior art devices, can be readily overcome is provided which is capable of use for-an in determinate period of time. e l A It is therefore an objectof'my invention to provide a i therapeutic article: of; this. character Any strains set up in this applied to the desired partof the anatomy. 'Alwhich obviates the objections inherent in the prior devices.

It, is a further object of my invention to provide a wire framework resembling a truss about and on which the perforated ceramic disks are formed and supported respectively, to provide a flexiblestructure. The'wires areso arranged in the disks-.thatuall strains in the structure are entirely withstood by the wires. a

It is afurther object of this invention to pro vide a. useful article of manufacture which issimple in design and construction, relatively inexpensive to manufacture, and which is capable of use for an indeterminate period of time.

My invention possesses many other advantages, and has other objects which may be made more easily apparent from a consideration of one embodiment of my invention. Forthis purpose I'have shown a form in the drawing accompanying and forming part of the present specification; I shall now. proceed to describe this form in detail, whichillustrates the general principlesofmy invention; but it is to be understood that, this detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, since the scope of my invention is best defined by the appended claims. 0

Referring to .the drawing:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a therapeutic article embodying my invention; and

Fig. 2 is a section thereof taken substantially along the plane 2-2 of Fig. 1. i

My invention contemplates the use "of. the thermal characteristics of the human body to effectuate the evaporation of a liquid medium for I the purpose of cooling and consequently stimulating a localized areaof the body to pro-. duce, a therapeutic effect. To. accomplish this, use is made of an absorbing'medium having a large absorptive area, which can be readily,

though any desired material may be utilizedasl the absorbing medium, I preferably usea thoroughly fired unglazed ceramic material due .to its unusual absorptive property and to the fact that it lends itself readily to be treated for the purposes of sterilization without undergoing any change in its physical properties, and further because it is capable ofuse .for an indefinite period of time. i f a In the drawing, the unglazedceram'ic material is shown in the form of disks l0? positioned in three parallel. rows." The corresponding disks in the outside rows are diametrically opposite to eachother, andthe disks in. the center row wardly from the disks in a direction coincident with the length thereof. The endless wire I3 is strung through the central row of disks [0- with its side portions equally spaced from the diameters of the disks and closely; adjacent thereto. This wire is likewiseprovided with a free loop l6 and H at each end thereof which extends outwardly from the central row of disks.

As thus far described, it is apparent that the disks are maintained in their respective rows by means of the endless wires H and 13; however, no attempt has been made to maintain the disks in the same plane. To accomplish this, use is made of the endless wire l2.

The wire l2 serves to maintain the disks ID of the respective rows in the same plane and to secure the disks of the central row to those of the outer rows to form the flexible fabric. As is apparent from Fig. 1, the wire I2 is provided with a loop l8 and I9, which is embedded in the respective end disks i8 and IQ of the central row about an arc of a circle spaced from the outer periphery of the disks. The ends of these loops lead into the adjacent disks 20, 2|, 22 and 23 respectively of the outer rows, loop about the center of these disks, and then lead to a diagonally disposed disk in the outer rows through a diameter of a disk in the central row. It will be apparent from the drawing, that by continuing this manner of securing the disks into a flexible fabric, the wire l2 will criss-cross back and forth from one disk in one outer row to a diagonally disposed disk in the other outer row, and always intersecting the disks in the central row along a diameter thereof. This arrangement progressively continues from the loop portion 18' of the disk l8 to the loop portion IQ of the disk [9 or vice versa.

In actual practice, the endless wires l I, I2 and. [3 are first arranged in a mold in the manner setforth, and the mold is then filled with a ceramic forming material or the I like, which forms a matrix or disk in which the wires are embedded. When the material has been moulded, it is taken from the mold along with theembedded wires and heated toslightly below the vitrification point. This is termed firing which forms the matrix into a hardened porous without being deleteriously aifected thereby. I 70 have found that flexible, corrosive and heat resistant wires such as those formed from stainlesslsteel, Monel metal, or nichrome are admirablysuited for this purpose.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that the wires H, l2 and.l3 .form a flexible support for the ceramic disks [0 which is quite similar to a truss. The wires H and I3 act to absorb all strains on the fabric when in use and eliminate the setting up of strains or stresses in the brittle unglazed ceramic disks. The wire l2 serves to unite the disks of the respective rows and to maintain them in the same plane. Due to the arrangement of stringing the disks ID in the manner disclosed, the structure will not become disrupted and rendered unfit for use should any one or more of the disks become broken.

In order to facilitate the mode of attaching this fabric to the desired part of the anatomy, a roller or bushing 25 is formed around the overlying ends of loops I4 and I6; and I and I1.

Onev end of a piece of ribbon or the like is secured to each of the rollers in any desirable manner as for instance, sewing. The free ends of these ribbon strips 26 can be then tied together about the part of the anatomy to which the fabric is to be applied. 1

Although I have disclosed the assemblage of three rows of disks into a flexible structure, it is readilyapparent, the invention is equally applicable to a structure having more orle'ss rows as desired.

I claim:

1. A therapeutic article comprising a flexible structure formed of unglazed ceramic disks and an interconnecting wire truss, said disks being arranged in three respective rows, with the disks in the outer rows diametrically opposite to each other, and the disks in the central row offset from the disks in the-other rows, said wire truss comprising three endless wires which substantially entirely withstand all strains on the structure, one of said wires extending through the disks of the outer rows, another of said wires extendingthrough the central row of disks, and the third wire extending back and forth in crisscross fashion between the disks ofall the rows.

2. A therapeutic thermostatic article comprising a flexible structure formed of unglazedceramic disks and an interconnecting wire truss, said disks being arranged in three respective rows, with the disks in the outer rows diametrically opposite to each other, and the disks in.

the central row offset from the disks in the other; rows, said wire truss comprising three endless wires which substantially entirely, withstand all strains on the structure, one of saidwires extending through the disks. of the outer rows along a chord adjacent the outer periphery thereof, and having free end portions extending outwardly from the disks .forming loops, another of'said wires extending through the central row ofdisks with the side portions thereof equally spaced from and adjacent the diameters of the disks and having free end portions extending outwardly from the disks forming loops, and the third wire extending back and forth in criss-cross fashion between the disks of all the rows to maintain the disks in the same plane.

3. The combination as set outin claim 2 in.

which the last named wire is looped Within the end disks of the central rows, looped within the disks of the outer rows and intersects the inftermediate disks of the central row substantially along a diameter thereof.

4 The combination as set out in claim 2 with the addition of means for securing the flexible fabric to the desired part of the anatomy.

5. A therapeutic thermostatic article comprising a flexible structure formed of unglazed perforated ceramic disks and an interconnecting wire truss, said disks being arranged in three respective rows, with the disks in the outer rows diametrically opposite to each other, and the disksin the central row off-set from the disks 'in the other rows, said wire truss comprising three endless wires which substantially entirely Withstand all strains on the structure, one of said wires extending through the disks of the outer rows along a chord adjacent the outer periphery thereof, and having free end portions extending outwardly from the disks forming loops, another of said wires extending through the central row of disks with the side portions thereof equally spaced from and adjacent the diameters of the disks and having free end portions extending outwardly from the disks forming loops, and the third wire extending back and forth in criss-cross fashion between the disks of all the rows to maintain the disks in the same plane.

OSCAR L. MILLS. 

